Feasibility of using central registry data to assess timeliness of breast cancer care in Delaware.

Studies have shown that timely screening, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer reduces mortality rates. The objective of this study was to determine if data collected by the Delaware Cancer Registry (DCR) could be used to access the timeliness of diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer patients, using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations of 60 days maximum for screening to diagnosis and 60 days maximum for diagnosis to treatment. This study analyzed DCR data for female Delawarean breast cancer patients diagnosed in 2004; data were included that had a valid screening, diagnosis, and treatment date. Calculations of 3 time intervals were performed: screening to diagnosis (time interval A), diagnosis to treatment (time interval B), and screening to treatment (time interval C). Results of this study show that, while not captured as an independent variable, screening dates could be extracted from text fields to calculate appropriate time intervals. The mean and median for time intervals A (23.2 days, 20.0 days), B (2.1 days, 0.0 days), and C (40.1 days, 37.0 days) met CDC recommendations. This study shows that it is possible to utilize DCR data to conduct a timeliness of breast cancer treatment providing the ability to benchmark Delaware breast cancer treatment timelines to national recommendations.